Roll-up doors are commonly used in cargo vans, trailers, truck bodies, and the like, as well as in garage and industrial doors. These types of doors are generally movable along an inverted L-shaped track between a substantially vertical closed position and an overhead out-of-the-way substantially horizontal position.
In some applications, such as garage doors, the building or supporting structure upon which the door is mounted, is generally regarded as being stationary and immovable. On the other hand, when such doors are mounted on vehicular bodies, they are subjected to far more vibration than those of the stationary type. This added vibration, in addition to exposure to weather, load shifting within the cargo body, abusive operation, and the like, quickly contributes to a high degree of wear.
Heretofore, it has been known to provide the several panel sections, of which the door is typically constructed, of a plywood or metal-skinned material. Usually, the appurtenant hardware, such as rollers, hinges and the like, was simply attached to the door panel by any convenient means. In some cases, this appurtenant structure was simply bolted to the door panel. In cases where the door was subjected to a high degree of vibration and/or swelling due to absorption of moisture, it was preferred to rivet the hardware to the door section. However, the more securely such appurtenant structure was physically held to the door panel, the harder it was to remove in the event that repair or replacement is necessary. Moreover, conventional fasteners (e.g., bolt heads and nuts) provide relatively sharp edges which may damage goods within the truck or van body.
Because of the foregoing problems, it has been proposed to manufacture door panels of an extrudable material, such as plastic or aluminum. Typically, these panels would be extruded along their longitudinal axes. It is also known to provide a continuous-type hinge between adjacent panel sections, such as shown and described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 06/859,025, filed May 2, 1986, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,771,816, and assigned to the assignee of the present application. That patent discloses that two adjacent panels may be extruded to have cooperative configurations arranged to receive an integral hinge-and-sealing member. That patent also contemplates that such member be of dual-durometer hardness. Basically, the hinge portion is formed of a relatively-rigid plastic material, while the integrally-formed sealing member is caused to have a greater degree of flexibility. In any event, while the hinge disclosed in said patent does provide an operative joint between adjacent panel sections, it is felt that such construction may be further improved.